Kojima Productions PHYSINT idea/experimenting/development timeline (plus info about Kojima Productions growth over the years)
I did something similiar for OD here a few years ago and thought I would do the same for Physint.
November 8, 2019:
- Death Stranding 1 release on PS4 with Kojima Productions having grown to 80+ people in a studio that has place for around 100 staff members
March 30, 2020:
- Kojima Productions switches to remote work, because of the pandemic
2020 (during pandemic):
- Kojima falls ill and isn`t sure if he will be able to go back to make games anymore which made him change his priorities with the decision to make an action espionage game in the future
October 22, 2020:
- Kojima Productions confirms a new project (DS2) is in development and start hiring for it
August 4, 2021:
- Kojima Productions Uk Ltd is established which seems to be mostly just Jay Boor with KJP never really hiring for it. Uk seems to be an important business place for KJP with them doing english voice recording including facial capture there at the studio Molinare, working with other uk companies on their games like with The Mill or Shloc, them working with Titan Books on artbooks and also english novelizations of their games while also working on merchadise with companies like Forbidden Planet, Gresham Blake or Insert Coain for example. Three director`s are listed for the uk branch with Boor being the only mentioned person that is based there:
- Jay Boor who joined KJP in february 26, 2020, is uk based and handles marketing plus communications from there so this is likely his work place
- Shinji Hirano who joined KJP in december 16, 2016, is japan based and is the corporate officer / president of the tokyo studio
- Kazuo Tsubaki who is japan based and works in the admistration department for the tokyo studio
- - Outside of that the Uk Ltd mentions two other persons with significant control:
- Shinji Hirano again like above
- Kenji Yano, who is japan based and one of the writers of KJP while also writing the novels based on KJP`s titles. Maybe he is listed here, because they partner with the uk based Titan Books for the english novelizations of their games.
September 24, 2021:
- Death Stranding 1 Director`s Cut release on PS5
November 22, 2021:
- Kojima Productions launches a new division dedicated to music, TV and film in Los Angeles, California which is designed to take the studio`s games to other pop culture areas with the team led by Riley Russel who joins KJP after 28 years at Playstation. Riley Russel says:
"The new division will be tasked with working with creative and talented professionals in television, music and film, as well as the more familiar games industry," and "The team has as its charter, the goal of expanding the reach and awareness of the properties now under development at KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS and to make them, even more, a part of our popular culture. Although we are a global organization, the new business development team will be centred in Los Angeles, CA. We are truly excited and looking forward to working with the very best entertainment talent we can, across all of the entertainment industries."
- Business development manager Yoshiko Fukuda added:
"Finding new ways to entertain, engage and offer value to our fans is essential in a fast-moving, ever-changing storytelling world. Our new division will take the studio into even more areas that present our creative narratives beyond videogames and open up ways for our fans to communicate and immerse themselves in these spaces."
December 31, 2021:
- Kojima end of the year tweet:
"Although 2021 was still a very difficult year for us, we managed to deliver the release of DSDC for PS5 safely even in this COVID situation while we were solemnly preparing and experimenting with new titles. Thank you very much"
March 2022:
- Performance capture for DS2 in the US seems to start (couldn`t start earlier, because of the pandemic)
March 31, 2022:
- Kojima Productions moves into their new bigger studio while it is still being renovated
April 5, 2022:
- Unreal Engine 5 is fully released (used by OD and maybe could be used by Physint)
May 20, 2022:
- Kojima Productions is hiring (likely for staffing up after moving into their new studio and for building the OD team)
June 12, 2022:
- Kojima Productions announces partnership with XBOX to make a game using their cloud technology (this is likely also around the time real development of OD started while the majority of staff continued to work on DS2)
June 15, 2022:
- Kojima Productions is hiring (likely for staffing up after moving into their new studio and for building the OD team)
December 16, 2022:
- Kojima Productions finishes renovating their new studio and staff starts coming back into the office after having mostly worked remotely since late march 2020, because of the pandemic (the new office has place for 200+ people so for around double as much as the old office)
Likely Q4 2023:
- Kojima coincidentally meets with Jim Ryan (former CEO of SIE) and talks about the idea for new action espionage game
December 1, 2023:
- Kojima Productions trademarks "Social Stealth System" (Physint) and "Social Scream System" (OD)
December 11, 2023:
- 3Lateral the company the studio is collaborating with on DS2, OD and later Physint is visiting Kojima Productions
January 1, 2024:
- Hideo Kojima new year post:
"This year will be another year of simultaneous production of "DS2" and "OD". DS2 still has some ADR left, and we will start recording Japanese voice overs. I want to concentrate on creating games, so I would like to limit my business trips, but I can't do nothing because I have to shoot for OD, collaborate with Avengers, make DS into a movie, and work on other video projects."
January 31, 2024:
- Announcement of Physint at Playstation State of Play with Kojima saying:
"It will be a brand new, original IP, a next-generation ACTION ESPIONAGE game. Preparations are underway, but production will begin in earnest at Kojima Productions after Death Stranding 2. We have extensive experience with Sony, having grown the espionage genre together for 30 years. Also, Sony not only does games, but also music and movies. It will definitely be a strong collaboration. Two years from now, I will celebrate the 40th anniversary of my game productions career. I am confident that this title will be the culmination of my work." and "I cannot tell you so much now... But we plan to bring together cutting-edge technology and talent from around the world to create it. Of course, it is an interactive game, but it is also a movie at the same time, in terms of look, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion, and sound. With this title, we hope to transcend the barriers between film and video games."
February 1, 2024:
- Kojima says on social media:
""PHYSINT (working title)" will be the third, new original IP since the establishment of KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS. It is a completely new "Action Espionage" for the next-generation. It will be created using cutting-edge technology and the best talents from around the world, both from film and video games. Of course this is an interactive "game", but the look, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion, sound, etc... are all at the next level of "Digital Entertainment" that could be called a "movie"."
July 26, 2024:
- Suspended casting for Physint and suspended casting and filming for OD due to SAG-Aftra video game strike
December 31, 2024:
- Hideo Kojima end of the year post talking about what they did in 2024:
"It was a year full of many things: DS2 development, the release of our second trailer, ADR for the actors, music production and recording, Japanese voice recording. In the summer, we started to play and build up the game. We were also able to hold a TGS stage event for the first time in 5 years. For OD, we developed the game and had actor and environment scanning. In the second half of the year, scanning and filming were suspended due to the SAG strike. Casting was also suspended for Physint due to the strike. We hope to resume next year." and "Preparations and planning for the live-action DS film with A24 as well as other adaptations are underway."
January 1, 2025:
- Hideo Kojima new year post (google translate):
"With the upcoming release of DS2, this will be a pivotal year for us. Regarding the production of OD, I anticipate that filming and scanning will ramp up in earnest once the strike has concluded. We will also resume the casting and planning for Physint that had been put on hold. In parallel, we will push forward with the film adaptation of Death Stranding (with A24) and other screen adaptations."
April 18, 2025:
- Bill Skarsgard visits Kojima Productions
June 8, 2025:
- Start of Death Stranding World Strand Tour 2 in Los Angeles (DS2 promotion tour) that takes Kojima and co. to 12 cities around the world with events at each of them
June 26, 2025:
- DS2 release on PS5 with Kojima Productions having grown to an entertainment company with around 200 people and most of the staff likely switched from DS2 to OD as their main project after that since it is their next big release, other staff continued to work on DS2 post-launch updates while the rest likely started development on Physint not long after
July 9, 2025:
- SAG-Aftra strike has ended and casting is resumed for Physint and OD
July 22 or 29, 2025:
- Hideo Kojima Indie Wire interview:
"I also am starting to work with the team on "OD" because that's a new project (likely means that the majority of staff switched from DS2 to OD by that point), and also doing "Physint" all by myself because that's at the conceptual stage."
September 23, 2025:
- Kojima Productions 10th anniversary event with Aki Saito live translating what Kojima is saying about Physint (for comparison based on what is said the project seems to be at a similiar stage DS2 was in may/june 2020 when they did planning/concept/characters etc.):
Kojima: "Yeah, but this is like just starting. I´m just doing the concept all by myself and I need to do some experiments as well, but that`s about it."
Risa: "What is the progress?"
Kojimna: "Well, I`m it`s still conceptual, so making characters and stuff and also thinking about casting and and but no, it hasn`t really is just a start.
Kojima: "Well, yeah, it`s the next stage tactical espionage action game. So it`ll be, you know, using technology even further than OD, because it`s later up the, you know it`s in the future."
Kojima: "But so I´m doing the concept and also casting, but as I said before, there was a sag strike, so I was I couldn`t do the casting. So I can`t really announce the main character, but there are a couple of other characters that are decided. Uh, I don`t have a screenplay, but I could announce some casts."
- Charlee Fraser, Don Lee (Ma Dong-seok) and Minami Hamabe are announced as cast members with Hamabe being the only person that was already scanned by that point.
Risa: "And today we have a model with new technology."
Kojima: "Well, I can`t really say it yet, but we have DS2 and technology wise, you know, OD might be higher and then on top of that, you know, the new technology will come even more. So I´ll break the barrier between movie and games. But especially like for Miss Hamabe uh an asian skin was very difficult to capture. So I was talking with 3Lateral using a new technology that they invented and hopefully it would kind of revive the delicate asian young lady`s skin. So I`ll just want to show you a little bit a couple of cuts of how she looks in CG.
- Shows in-engine facial animation Physint pictures of Hamabe`s cg model.
Kojima: "And this is not, you know the actual photo. This is from the game engine and you know the makeup and the hairstyle would change according to the game. So it won`t be like this, but you know even the lips and the redness is like future technology and this will move in the game and you can move the camera too. So you know it`s further out in the future."
Risa: "So the casting has yet to go?"
Koima: "And also we need to you know experiment on new technology, but there`s so much more to go, but before that I need to do OD and hopefully everyone looks forward to the OD and the Physint new project."
September 25, 2025:
- Kojima Productions is hiring for Physint and OD
November 2, 2025:
- End of Death Stranding World Strand Tour 2 (DS2 promotion tour that took Kojima and co. to 12 cities around the world with events at each of them)
November 4, 2025:
- Kojima meets with Bill Skarsgard in Sweden
November 7, 2025:
- Kojima Productions is hiring for Physint and OD
December 31, 2025:
- Kojima end of the year post:
"The first half was busy with the production of DS2, finish building the game, editing trailers, and preparing everything leading up to the launch of the game. The second half took me around the world for a global tour and promotion, revisiting places I hadn't been able to travel to for some time due to the pandemic. All told, I circled the globe the equivalent of six times. I was finally able to attend several film festivals I'd long been invited to, and had the chance to meet so many people and fans, along the way. In parallel, continued to work on OD, prepared and planned PHYSINT, including the casting."
January 1, 2026:
- Kojima new year post:
"We will continue development on the horror game "OD" and move forward with preparations for the espionage action title "PHYSINT." This includes casting actors, scanning, and performance capture shoots (that seems to refer to OD which started filming in june 2026). Also, be pushing forward with the live-action film of DEATH STRANDING, as well as its animation projects, both the movie and series."
February 18, 2026:
- Kojima connects to Stockholm for a character costume fitting (likely for Bill Skarsgard character)
March 2026:
- Costume fittings, actor scans and camera tests are made with Bill Skarsgard and Charlee Fraser at 3Lateral in Serbia
March 19, 2026:
- DS2 PS5 update and PC release (ported by Nixxes) which Kojima Productions developed new content for (so this is likely the point Kojima Productions work on DS2 was finished outside of some PS5 hotfixes)
April 22, 2026:
- Kojima visits Xbox/Microsoft headquarters in the US and meets with Asha Sharma and Matt Booty
June 9 or 10, 2026:
- Filming for OD in the US with Sophia Lillies and Hunter Schafer is starting after it was delayed from the second half of 2024 to june 2026, because of the sag aftra strike (1, 2)
Mid June 2026:
- Sony informs Kojima Productions about the cancellation of the project (a bit less than 1 year after DS2 released and around 3 months after DS2 final content update) and KJP starts searching for a new partner for Physint which resulted in making the Physint team smaller and moving people over to the OD team while Physint staff worked on material for a pitch. Work on Physint didn`t stop with a very small team remaining working on the most crucial parts while the others moved to OD and Kojima continued to work on the concept. This didn`t result in much of a delay, because it was a minor change like the animation team for example was already mainly on OD so it wasn`t like Physint already had a big team on it.
August 31, 2026:
- Kojima Productions is hiring for Physint and OD
September 10, 2026:
- Physint changes from Sony/Playstation to Microsoft/Xbox as partner and publisher with Kojima saying:
"As confirmed earlier through our official channels, in mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the PHYSINT project. PHYSINT is an important project both to me personally and to KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS. Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner. In the course of seeking advice and pursuing negotiations with people across many fields, we found in XBOX a partner with whom we share a common vision for the future, and we have decided to team up with them once again. Please rest assured that development of PHYSINT, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward."
- Kojima Productions said:
"Today, we are excited to confirm that our journey with PHYSINT continues with Asha and the team at XBOX. XBOX understands and shares our bold creative vision, and this expands our relationship with XBOX beyond OD. As we move forward with the development of PHYSINT, we remain committed to redefining the action-espionage genre for players around the world."
September 17, 2026:
- Hideo Kojima appears at the XBOX Tokyo Game Show stream and reveals Bill Skarsgard as the lead and player character for PHYSINT while also saying about the project:
"I would like to update you on PHYSINT, now being published by XBOX. PHYSINT is the culmination of more than 40 years of my career: a project that will redefine "action-espionage", unbound by any existing genres in digital entertainment. The project continues to make steady progress. We`re also making progress on casting, talent scans, and collaborations with outside creators." and "The costume fittings, scans and camera tests we conducted with Bill and Charlee earlier this year gave me tremendous confidence in the direction of the project. My vision of the final form became much more solidified."
September 20, 2026:
- IGN interview with Kojima:
IGN: Did production stop at any point? (refering to the cancellations and the three months of searching and negotiating with publishers)
Hideo Kojima: "So the work didn't stop. I'm still doing the concept. How I create the game is a little unique. The world, the game system, scenario, the visuals, the design, modeling, I'm still doing that. I'm still casting and also doing scans for the actors. But the game system for the new technology, like enemy AI and stuff, I'm still experimenting on all of this. I have to change the story depending on how the game experiment works. So it's not like we're ready to go, or like it's like a big team already. It's more like a very small team that remained for the crucial parts, and all the others moved to OD."
Hideo Kojima: "There wasn't much of a delay or anything because it was a very minor change. Of course, if I had a full team on the Physint project, it would be faster. But the animation team is mainly on OD. But the animation, the motion, and things like that will of course change later to the actor's movements, once we start doing performance capture. So right now, it's in there for the sake of experimenting. I'm working on it every day still."
IGN: Did you have to change the engine or anything like that (is it Decima?)?
Hideo Kojima: "Well, I haven't really decided yet. I'm still experimenting. After we decided to team up with Xbox, they said they will give us a lot of technological support. When I went to visit them during the Don Mattrick days, they had so many labs and everything, and they were experimenting on so many things, like state of the art, new, really new, cutting-edge technology. I was really surprised. I was thinking, "There are so many Doc Browns from Back to the Future here!" So I want to use all this new technology. Anything that I can use, I want to use, and I'm looking forward to teaming up with Xbox, but I really haven't decided about the engine."
IGN: You wrote on X that you found a "common vision" with Xbox — what was that vision?
Hideo Kojima: "The biggest thing was, they're not thinking of just funding a game. They're thinking about movies and anime. It's more about the IP. Let's create a new IP. And that's bigger in scale, so to speak. And not many other game publishers or game developers have that kind of vision." and "Because it's not the era of just game consoles. You create an IP, and it can be a game or a movie or music, and everything comes together. You can expand it to merchandising, too."
September 30, 2026:
- Kojima Productions interview with concept artist Entei Ryu saying:
" I've worked on concept art for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, OD, and more recently Physint, as well as the upcoming Death Stranding animation projects."
October 5, 2026:
- Koji10 podcast ep. 36:
Maoko Hibi: "As I said, the game recalls the roots of "Metal Gear". It could be memorable in so many ways. I can`t wait."
Hideo Kojima: "It`s about spies, but I want plenty of new ideas and a different kind of spy action. It`s quite different."
Hideo Kojima: "We have to scan actors early, because processing the data takes a long time. We`ll film the performance much later." (for comparison filming for DS2 in the US started around march 2022, did finish in may 2024 and the game came out in june 2025 so I could imagine filming for Physint starting in the US around 2028 except for maybe doing a shoot for a one scene in-engine teaser trailer before that)
Hideo Kojima: "And here`s Don Lee. We haven`t scanned him yet." and "We`ll scan several people this year and more next year."